UNITED STATES NEWS

Prosecutors urge judge not to toss out Trump’s hush money conviction, pushing back on immunity claim

Jul 25, 2024, 12:40 PM | Updated: 1:38 pm

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event a...

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at 180 Church, June 15, 2024, in Detroit. Former President Donald Trump's sentencing in his hush money case has been postponed until Sept. 18. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors are urging a judge to uphold Donald Trump’s historic hush money conviction, arguing in court papers released Thursday that the verdict should stand despite the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office said in a court filing that the high court’s opinion “has no bearing” on the hush money case and does not support vacating the jury’s unanimous verdict or dismissing the case.

Prosecutors said Trump’s lawyers failed to raise the immunity issue in a timely fashion and that, even so, the case involved unofficial acts — many pertaining to events prior to his election — that are not subject to immunity.

Lawyers for the former president and current Republican nominee are trying to get the verdict — and even the indictment — tossed out because of the Supreme Court’s July 1 decision. It gave presidents considerable protection from prosecution.

The ruling came about a month after a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to conceal a deal to pay off porn actor Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election. At the time, she was considering going public with a story of a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, who says no such thing happened. He has denied any wrongdoing.

He was a private citizen when his lawyer paid Daniels. But Trump was president when the attorney was reimbursed. Prosecutors say those repayments were misleadingly logged simply as legal expenses in Trump’s company records.

The attorney, Michael Cohen, testified that he and the then-president discussed the repayment arrangement in the Oval Office.

Trump’s lawyers have argued that prosecutors rushed to trial instead of waiting for the Supreme Court’s view on presidential immunity, and that the trial was “tainted” by evidence that shouldn’t have been allowed under the high court’s ruling.

Judge Juan M. Merchan plans to rule on the Trump attorneys’ request Sept. 6. He has set Trump’s sentencing for Sept. 18, “if such is still necessary” after he reaches his conclusions about immunity.

United States News

Associated Press

Boeing factory workers vote to accept contract and end more than 7-week strike

SEATTLE (AP) — Unionized machinists at Boeing voted Monday to accept a contract offer and end their strike after more than seven weeks, clearing the way for the aerospace giant to resume production of its bestselling airliner and generate much-needed cash. Leaders of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers district in Seattle said […]

3 hours ago

FILE - Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt answers questions from reporters during a news confere...

Associated Press

The GOP expects to keep Kansas’ open House seat. Democratic Rep. Davids looks tough to beat

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans expected a former Kansas attorney general’s political comeback in Tuesday’s election to keep an open U.S. House seat in GOP hands while the party faced a tougher challenge in trying to oust the only Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation. Republican Derek Schmidt sought the 2nd Congressional District seat held […]

3 hours ago

FILE - Shomari Figures, who is running for Alabama's 2nd Congressional District, speaks during the ...

Associated Press

Figures and Dobson are in a heated battle for a redrawn Alabama House district

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama voters will decide who will represent a congressional district that was redrawn after a lengthy legal battle that drew national attention and could provide a rare opportunity for Democrats to flip a seat in the Deep South. Democrat Shomari Figures, a former top aide to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, […]

3 hours ago

FILE - Protesters hold competing signs outside Manhattan federal court during an abortion-rights de...

Associated Press

Abortion is on the ballot in nine states and motivating voters across the US

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in nine states are deciding whether their state constitutions should guarantee a right to abortion, weighing ballot measures that are expected to spur turnout for a range of crucial races. Passing certain amendments in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota likely would lead to undoing bans or restrictions that currently […]

3 hours ago

FILE - Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., speaks during an event on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 9, 2...

Associated Press

Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker is challenged by Democrat Ty Pinkins

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi is trying to extend his 30-year career on Capitol Hill as he faces Democrat Ty Pinkins, a challenger who received little financial support from his own party in a heavily Republican state. Wicker, now 73, was first elected to the U.S. House in a northern […]

3 hours ago

FILE - Rep. Steve Scalise, R-LA., speaks during the Republican National Convention, on July 16, 202...

Associated Press

Democrats hope to flip a reliably Republican Louisiana congressional seat with new boundaries

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — In a critical election year, Democrats are looking to flip a once reliably Republican Louisiana congressional seat, where political boundaries were recently redrawn to form the state’s second mostly Black congressional district. With five people on the ballot for Louisiana’s Sixth Congressional District, Democrats have thrown their support behind longtime […]

3 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

DISC Desert Institute for Spine Care

The best methods to make your back pain disappear for good

Are you struggling with back pain that will not go away?

...

Collins Comfort Masters

Collins Comfort Masters: Leading the Way in HVAC and Plumbing Services in Arizona

Tempe, AZ – Since its inception in 1985, Collins Comfort Masters has been a cornerstone in the HVAC and plumbing industry in Phoenix and the surrounding Valley.

...

Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

It wouldn’t hurt to get your AC checked after Arizona’s excruciating heat wave

A well-maintained air conditioning unit is vital to living a comfortable life inside, away from triple-digit heat in Arizona.

Prosecutors urge judge not to toss out Trump’s hush money conviction, pushing back on immunity claim